Alemany, who is also the head of RBS Americas, ranked as the fourth most powerful female banker on this year’s list. She earned the No. 5 slot on the magazine’s 2011 list.

“I am honored by this recognition and even more pleased to see American Banker highlight the positive impact that women executives are having across RBS Citizens Financial Group,” Alemany said in a statement. “We have amassed a stellar group of professionals – women and men – all of whom are dedicated to serving the needs of our consumer, small business and corporate clients.”

“Having swung back to two years of profitability after a money-losing 2009, the company, led by CEO Ellen Alemany, has put new emphasis on steering women up through the management ranks,” the American Banker article said.

In addition to Alemany, RBS Citizen’s team of women executives was recognized as a “Top Team in Banking” by American Banker.

The magazine noted that the bank’s commitment to women “is part of the heritage of RBS Citizens.” RBS Citizens has a history of women executives dating back to the Cleveland-based Women’s Savings and Loan Co., which became one of the first U.S. banks started and operated by women in 1922.

Leading the list was HSBC USA CEO Irene Dorner, who has taken on the task of rebuilding HSBC in the United States following its ill-fated 2003 purchase of subprime lender Household International, while at the same time as fighting ovarian cancer that was diagnosed last fall (she says she is cancer free now).

Dorothy Savarese, chairman, president and CEO of Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, came in at No. 19 on the list, thanks to a boost in the thrift’s U.S. Small Business Administration lending and a gain in its share of deposits in the region. She is also the first woman president in the 157-year-old bank’s history.

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